第 244 页

Imports - commodities:

machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:

Germany 12.6%, China 10%, US 7.6%, Japan 6.6%, Saudi Arabia 5.3%, UK 5% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:

$700 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$32.98 billion (31 December 2007)

Debt - external:

$39.71 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$93.47 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$53.93 billion (2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$842 billion (January 2008)

Currency (code):

rand (ZAR)

Currency code:

ZAR

Exchange rates:

rand per US dollar - 7.05 (2007), 6.7649 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003)

Fiscal year:

1 April - 31 March

Communications South Africa

Telephones - main lines in use:

4.729 million (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

39.66 million (2006)

Telephone system:

general assessment: the system is the best developed and most modern in Africa

domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 100 telephones per 100 persons; consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay links, fiber-optic cable, radiotelephone communication stations, and wireless local loops; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria

international: country code - 27; the SAT-3/WASC and SAFE fiber optic cable systems connect in South Africa providing connectivity to Europe and Asia; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 14, FM 347 (plus 243 repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios:

17 million (2001)

Television broadcast stations:

556 (plus 144 network repeaters) (1997)

Televisions:

6 million (2000)

Internet country code:

.za

Internet hosts:

1.088 million (2007)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

150 (2001)

Internet users:

5.1 million (2005)

Transportation South Africa

Airports:

728 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 146

over 3,047 m: 10

2,438 to 3,047 m: 5

1,524 to 2,437 m: 51

914 to 1,523 m: 67

under 914 m: 13 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 582

1,524 to 2,437 m: 34

914 to 1,523 m: 300

under 914 m: 248 (2007)

Heliports:

1 (2007)

Pipelines:

condensate 100 km; gas 1,177 km; oil 992 km; refined products 1,379 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 20,872 km

narrow gauge: 20,436 km 1.065-m gauge (8,931 km electrified); 436 km 0.610-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 362,099 km

paved: 73,506 km (includes 239 km of expressways)

unpaved: 288,593 km (2002)

Merchant marine:

total: 2 ships (1000 GRT or over) 28,722 GRT/32,226 DWT

by type: container 1, petroleum tanker 1

foreign-owned: 1 (Denmark 1)

registered in other countries: 7 (Bahamas 1, Seychelles 1, UK 4, unknown 1) (2007)

Ports and terminals:

Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay

Military South Africa

Military branches:

South African National Defense Force (SANDF): South African Army, South African Navy (SAN), South African Air Force (SAAF), Joint Operations Command, Military Intelligence, Military Health Service (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18 years of age for voluntary military service; women have a long history of military service in noncombat roles dating back to World War I (2004)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 11,622,507

females age 16-49: 11,501,537 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 6,042,498

females age 16-49: 5,471,103 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

males age 16-49: 496,337

females age 16-49: 492,024 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

1.7% (2006)

Military - note:

with the end of apartheid and the establishment of majority rule, former military, black homelands forces, and ex-opposition forces were integrated into the South African National Defense Force (SANDF); as of 2003 the integration process was considered complete

Transnational Issues South Africa

Disputes - international:

South Africa has placed military along the border to apprehend the thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing economic dysfunction and political persecution; as of January 2007, South Africa also supports large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (33,000), Somalia (20,000), Burundi (6,500), and other states in Africa (26,000); managed dispute with Namibia over the location of the boundary in the Orange River; in 2006, Swazi king advocates resort to ICJ to claim parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal from South Africa

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): 10,772 (Democratic Republic of Congo); 7,818 (Somalia); 5,759 (Angola) (2007)

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: South Africa is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation; women and girls are trafficked internally - and occasionally to European and Asian countries - for sexual exploitation; women from other African countries are trafficked to South Africa and, less frequently, onward to Europe for sexual exploitation; men and boys are trafficked from neighboring countries for forced agricultural labor; Asian and Eastern European women are trafficked to South Africa for debt-bonded sexual exploitation

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - South Africa is on the Tier 2 Watch List for a fourth consecutive year for its failure to show increasing efforts to address trafficking; the government provided inadequate data in 2007 on trafficking crimes investigated or prosecuted, or on resulting convictions or sentences; it also did not provide information on its efforts to protect victims of trafficking; the country continues to deport and/or prosecute suspected foreign victims without providing appropriate protective services (2008)

Illicit drugs:

transshipment center for heroin, hashish, and cocaine, as well as a major cultivator of marijuana in its own right; cocaine and heroin consumption on the rise; world's largest market for illicit methaqualone, usually imported illegally from India through various east African countries, but increasingly producing its own synthetic drugs for domestic consumption; attractive venue for money launderers given the increasing level of organized criminal and narcotics activity in the region and the size of the South African economy

This page was last updated on 15 July, 2008

The World Factbook

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Introduction South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Background:

The islands, which have large bird and seal populations, lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands and have been under British administration since 1908 - except for a brief period in 1982 when Argentina occupied them. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. Famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses scientists from the British Antarctic Survey. Recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 nm to 200 nm around each island.

Geography South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Location:

Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America

Geographic coordinates:

54 30 S, 37 00 W

Map references:

Antarctic Region

Area:

total: 3,903 sq km

land: 3,903 sq km

water: 0 sq km

note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of 11 islands

Area - comparative:

slightly larger than Rhode Island

Land boundaries:

0 km

Coastline:

NA km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm

exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm

Climate:

variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow

Terrain:

most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m

Natural resources:

fish

Land use:

arable land: 0%

permanent crops: 0%

other: 100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen) (2005)

Irrigated land:

0 sq km

Natural hazards:

the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism

Environment - current issues:

NA

Geography - note:

the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in the 20th century, live on South Georgia

People South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Population:

no indigenous inhabitants

note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001 replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey, which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited

Government South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Country name:

conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

conventional short form: none

abbreviation: SGSSI

Dependency status:

overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen ELIZABETH II

Legal system:

the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; the senior magistrate from the Falkland Islands presides over the Magistrates Court

Diplomatic representation in the US:

none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)

Diplomatic representation from the US:

none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)

Flag description:

blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms features a shield with a golden lion centered; the shield is supported by a fur seal on the left and a penguin on the right; a reindeer appears above the shield, and below it on a scroll is the motto LEO TERRAM PROPRIAM PROTEGAT (Let the Lion Protect its Own Land)

Economy South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Economy - overview:

Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting finfish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK, sale of fishing licenses, and harbor and landing fees from tourist vessels. Tourism from specialized cruise ships is increasing rapidly.

Communications South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Telephone system:

general assessment: NA

domestic: NA

international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken

Radio broadcast stations:

0 (2003)

Television broadcast stations:

0 (2003)

Internet country code:

.gs

Internet hosts:

193 (2007)

Transportation South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Ports and terminals:

Grytviken

Military South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Military - note:

defense is the responsibility of the UK

Transnational Issues South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Disputes - international:

Argentina, which claims the islands in its constitution and briefly occupied them by force in 1982, agreed in 1995 to no longer seek settlement by force

This page was last updated on 15 July, 2008

The World Factbook

Southern Ocean

Introduction Southern Ocean

Background:

A large body of recent oceanographic research has shown that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), an ocean current that flows from west to east around Antarctica, plays a crucial role in global ocean circulation. The region where the cold waters of the ACC meet and mingle with the warmer waters of the north defines a distinct border - the Antarctic Convergence - which fluctuates with the seasons, but which encompasses a discrete body of water and a unique ecologic region. The Convergence concentrates nutrients, which promotes marine plant life, and which in turn allows for a greater abundance of animal life. In the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization decided to delimit the waters within the Convergence as a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - by combining the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit and which approximates the extent of the Antarctic Convergence. As such, the Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). It should be noted that inclusion of the Southern Ocean does not imply recognition of this feature as one of the world's primary oceans by the US Government.

Geography Southern Ocean

Location:

body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica

Geographic coordinates:

60 00 S, 90 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude

Map references:

Antarctic Region

Area:

total: 20.327 million sq km

note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies